BREAKING: AFP says leaders and ministers from about three dozen countries "hammered out an outline climate accord" in a meeting that ended at about 2:30 a.m., "leaving top advisors to work out the final language of the draft agreement" with an eye toward having something ready for heads of state by 8 a.m.

The deets: "The declaration will likely call for preventing global temperatures from going up more than 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial times, according to a participant in the meeting. . . . ?It will also tally up the pledges from rich nations on cutting greenhouse gases by 2020, and propose a target for all countries by mid-century . . . .

"On financing for the poor countries most vulnerable to the ravages of climate change . . . it would kick off with $10 billion a year from 2010 to 2012, climbing to $50 billion annually by 2015 and $100 billion by 2020."

It's finally Friday, and this is the Copenhagen Connection.

OBAMA's DAY: Air Force One arrives at CPH around 8:30 a.m. Obama meets with Danish PM Lars Lokke Rasmussen; delivers remarks during the morning plenary session; meets with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao; poses for official photos; meets with Brazilian President Lula Da Silva; participates in the afternoon plenary session; and meets with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

""The world is looking to Mr. Obama to wrest some credible success from this process. And on Thursday, with almost 120 heads of state and government in attendance, there were some signs that a meaningful political deal might be at hand, including a slight shift in China’s position and a pledge by the United States to help the poorest nations cope financially with global warming.

"But top negotiators here said that the talks could also prove a humiliating failure, because China and the United States, the world’s two largest emitters, remain deeply divided over a number of difficult problems."

CHINA’S BACK. Beijing’s negotiators looked to be walking away from the table early Thursday – but they were back talking by the afternoon, thanks perhaps to Clinton and a decision to allow two tracks of talks.

"We are not giving up. The irony is that on substance we have had considerable movement in the last few days. For the talks to be in this state simply over matters of procedure rather than substance is immensely disappointing," a UK official told the paper.

BREAKTHOUGH? The Times again: “The Chinese vice foreign minister, He Yafei, insisted on no foreign intrusion into his country’s affairs. But, in what analysts said was an important concession, Mr. He said that China would consider “international exchanges” on a voluntary basis to share information about its emissions.”

.** Friday...Day 12...the final scheduled day of talks. On www.cleanskies.com, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Ed Markey all take questions from Clean Skies News. Visit www.cleanskies.com.**

WHAT THE AMERICANS ARE DOING FRIDAY. Negotiating or watching Obama. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hosts a CODEL breakfast at the Bella Center with 20 Ds and Rs.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING. The degree to which Obama's allies -- U.S. and otherwise -- are trying to protect him from any Copenhagen catastrophe.

DINE, THEN WHINE? POLITICO’s LOUISE ROUG reports on the night before the finale:

Heads of state dine, at the castle, with the Queen of Denmark. Then they go back to work: A special E.U.-sponsored meeting for a select group that included G20, the African Group and Island States (basically, everybody) back at the Bella Center.

BELLYACHE. The National Journal’s Darren Goode reports that some Republicans along for the trip think Nancy Pelosi’s team isn’t being nice enough – with Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and Joe Barton (R-Tex.) griping that they were denied invites to a Pelosi presser Thursday.

Doesn’t anybody remember the Newt Gingrich “Crybaby” cartoon?

BARTON AND BEIJING. POLITICO reports that Barton, one of the more conservative House members, sympathizes with the plight of Chinese negotiators in their bid to limit international monitoring of their pollution sites.

"I don't consider what China is doing to be obstruction, I consider it to be reality," said the Waco-area congressman, known for his conservative politics and command of House floor procedure.

"They are not going to, all of a sudden, put aside all of the technology and economic development they are doing just to meet some political goal in the West... I don't hold it against them," he added. "What would we have done in 1850 if England, France and Germany said... 'You can't build factories'? We would have told them to go jump in a lake."

OH, THE SARK BITES. AFP: "There is less than 24 hours. If we carry on like this, it will be a failure," French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned from the conference podium, according to Reuters. "Time is against us, let's stop posturing.... A failure in Copenhagen would be a catastrophe for each and every one of us."

COPENHAGEN WEATHER: Snowy with a high of 28 -- and wind chill temps in the teens.

**Stay with Clean Skies News for continued coverage from Copenhagen. Use the Web-based Network (www.cleanskies.com) for live feeds; original programming with the day’s top stories; and interviews with government, NGO and corporate newsmakers. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Ed Markey all take questions from Clean Skies News at www.cleanskies.com.

From Bonn to Barcelona – and now, live from Copenhagen – this online and on-demand energy and environment news network brings you the best and latest energy news anytime and anywhere. In need of instant updates on how Copenhagen unfolds? Clean Skies News delivers the most critical energy stories of the day, online at www.cleanskies.com. Follow Clean Skies News in Copenhagen at www.twitter.com/cleanskiesnews.